From Adriana Ravenlust’s review of Between the Shores: “And T.C. Mill, one of the editors, has also contributed a story in which a vampire-like alien who has made her way to Earth negotiates a way to sate her literal bloodlust with her chosen human lover. This might be my favorite of all the stories as it combines romance, consent, vampirism and kink.
…It’s hard not to mention nearly every story in this book because the focus in literature and high-quality writing provides the reader with an experience that provokes the mind as much as it does the clit. If this is what we can expect from this company, it’s definitely one to keep an eye on!”
Excerpt
His pulse murmured as she passed over his sternum, and as she traced his ribs she felt them expand with each breath.
In the midst of this, the idea slipped out. “I was wondering how you feel about something.”
When Mark’s eyebrows rose, they crinkled so they almost touched, before ascending in a sweep over his high forehead. It was always endearing, and her heartbeat stuttered when he did it now. His voice, too, made her pulse skip: it was warm, and sex had made it rough in a soft way, like rubbed velvet. “Well, the best way to find out is to ask me.”
Vero kept her hands on him, dropping lower to trace small circles over his stomach and chest. “There are other games people play. Besides using chains.”
“Yes.” Shortly. The chains and cuffs were his selection, and Mark had been the one to introduce her to them. He didn’t like being lectured on things he already knew. It had been a mercy, earlier in their relationship, that their areas of expertise didn’t overlap much. It gave them both a chance to learn. Now, though, he didn’t sound irritated so much as impatient. And perhaps nervous—or was that all on her side?
Vero swallowed and took a deep breath. “Games with knives.”
“Okay.” His eyebrows ascended again, though he fought them down with a tic. “I mean, I’m familiar. Usually people settle for—or warm up with—belts, and feather-ended floggers.”
“I want to draw your blood,” she said.
Strange to have it out in the open. Dancing on the edge of her secret. Not that Mark would know—not that she would ever force him to know—the underlying nightmare of her origins, her reality. That she needed blood (“complete part of a balanced diet,” some nagging Earthborn jingle singsonged in her mind before she forced it down). How she used to get it.
Read a longer excerpt in my author interview on the New Smut Project blog.
About the anthology
Twenty complex, surprising, intense, and relatable stories from a spectrum of new and established writers explore something unusual in erotic fiction: someone saying no. Submissives—and dominants—safeword out of a BDSM scene. Couples (and one threesome!) discover the possibilities and boundaries of their new relationships. Past trauma rears its head. Personal preferences clash.
Between the Shores shows respect for the boundaries people set as an integral part of sex, and highlights trust, communication—and mutual pleasure.
Some call a halt to the action. Some proceed with care and caution. Some bare secrets to their partners that they’ve never before shared. And some find exciting alternatives. Through negotiation—whether serious or accompanied by laughter—they move beyond their “no” to reach what they truly desire: healing, growth, and fulfillment both sexual and otherwise.
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